MacRumors

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.4.5 updates to developers, two weeks after seeding the first betas and a month after releasing iOS and iPadOS 13.4 with iCloud Folder Sharing, iPad trackpad support, and more.

iOS and ‌‌iPadOS‌‌ 13.4.5 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer center or over the air after the proper developer profile has been installed.

The iOS 13.4.5 update appears to focus primarily on bug fixes, under-the-hood improvements, and other small tweaks and changes. It may address an issue with Personal Hotspot that prevents it from working for some people and it could also fix a VPN-related vulnerability.

The update includes a new Apple Music feature that allows ‌Apple Music‌ songs to be shared on Instagram Stories. Tapping the Share button on a song in ‌Apple Music‌ creates a story with a song title, album name, and animated background, but at this time there is no way to get to ‌Apple Music‌ from the shared information.

No other major changes were found in the first beta, but if something new is found in the second beta, we'll update this article. iOS 13.4.5 could be one of the final updates to the iOS 13 operating system as Apple will soon shift its focus to iOS 14.

AppleCare+ for the newly released $399 iPhone SE is available for $79, a $50 price drop compared to the $129 ‌AppleCare‌+ price that Apple charged for the now-discontinued ‌iPhone‌ 8.

The standard AppleCare+ plan extends the one-year warranty and provides coverage for two incidents of accidental damage every 24 months, with the service fee priced at $29 for screen damage and $99 for other damage.

Apple also offers AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss for the ‌iPhone‌ SE for $149, with this plan covering damage and also offering a replacement device should the ‌iPhone‌ SE be stolen or lost. A replacement phone requires a service fee of $149 in addition to the ‌AppleCare‌+ plan price.

There are monthly payment options for each of these ‌AppleCare‌+ plans, with the standard ‌AppleCare‌+ priced at $3.99 per month and the Theft and Loss ‌AppleCare‌+ plan priced at $7.99 per month. Monthly plans renew automatically each month until canceled.

All ‌AppleCare‌+ plans need to be purchased alongside a new ‌iPhone‌ or within 60 days after purchase with in-store inspection or remote diagnostic. All of Apple's ‌AppleCare‌+ plans, monthly and standard, are renewable for the life of the device.

AirPods Pro feature an in-ear design with three sizes of soft, flexible silicone tips included in the box, and if you happen to lose those tips, Apple now sells replacements through its online store. The replacement tips will likely also be stocked at Apple Stores, although all locations outside of Greater China remain closed.

Apple offers two sets of small, medium, or large ear tips for $7.99 each in the United States, with pricing varying in other countries.

Replacement ear tips were previously only available through Apple Support, priced at $3.95 for a single set in any size. This remains an option for customers who want to save a few dollars. Follow our step-by-step instructions.

Apple today introduced the long-awaited low-cost iPhone SE, and alongside of the new device, Apple has unveiled silicone and leather cases designed to fit it.

Silicone cases for the new ‌iPhone‌ SE are available in pink sand, white, and black, and are priced at $35, while leather cases for the device are available in (PRODUCT)RED, black, and midnight blue and can be purchased for $45.

According to the compatibility section of the case product listing, the cases are only compatible with the new ‌iPhone‌ SE, but because of the design similarities between the ‌iPhone‌ SE and the ‌iPhone‌ 8, existing ‌iPhone‌ 8 cases will also fit. That should mean that earlier ‌iPhone‌ cases, such as ‌iPhone‌ 7 cases, should also fit the new ‌iPhone‌ SE models.

In fact, Apple confirmed to The Verge that cases designed for the ‌iPhone‌ 8 "will work fine on the SE."

Apple today introduced a Mac Pro Wheels kit designed for the Mac Pro, which adds wheels to the machine after purchase. The kit is priced at $699.

When adding wheels to the ‌Mac Pro‌ when making an initial purchase, Apple charges $400, but the standalone kit to be used after purchase is $300 more because the pre-purchase price includes the price of removing the $300 feet.

Apple says the kit includes a 1/4-inch to 4mm hex bit for installing the wheels, but additional tools are necessary. The purchase price includes a total of four wheels and an installation guide.

Apple also offers a Mac Pro Feet Kit for those who ordered wheels but want to swap back to standard feet. The Feet Kit is priced at $300.

‌Mac Pro‌ users who want to purchase the wheels add-on kit or the feet add-on kit can do so from Apple's online store.

Apple today stopped selling the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus after announcing the second-generation iPhone SE.

The second-generation iPhone SE is essentially an upgraded iPhone 8, with a 4.7-inch display and Touch ID home button, but with a faster A13 Bionic chip. As of now, there is no Plus-sized version of the new iPhone SE, so there is no direct replacement for the 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus, although rumors suggest that an iPhone SE Plus is under development.

Apple introduced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus alongside the iPhone X in September 2017. Key features included a glass-backed design with wireless charging, improved water resistance, and upgraded cameras.

The new iPhone SE starts at $399 in the United States. For more details, read our announcement post.

Update: While no longer sold by Apple, Rene Ritchie notes that the iPhone 8 Plus will remain available through select retailers for the time being.

Apple today announced the second-generation iPhone SE with a 4.7-inch display, A13 Bionic chip, Touch ID home button, up to 256GB of storage, and more.

The new iPhone SE sports a single-lens 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with Portrait mode support. With a glass-backed design like the iPhone 8, the new iPhone SE is also capable of Qi-certified wireless charging.

The new iPhone SE comes in black, white and (PRODUCT)RED and will be available for pre-order beginning at 5 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, April 17. The device will also be available for purchase at select Apple Authorized Resellers and carriers starting Friday, April 24 in the United States and more than 40 other countries and regions.

Pricing starts at $399 in the United States with 64GB of storage, with 128GB and 256GB options available for $449 and $549 respectively. Given this price point, the new iPhone SE has some tradeoffs, including an LCD display instead of OLED, an aluminum frame over stainless steel, Touch ID instead of Face ID, and a single rear camera lens rather than multiple.

Other features of the new iPhone SE include a 7-megapixel front camera, IP67-rated water resistance, Wi-Fi 6, and similar battery life as the iPhone 8. And unlike the original iPhone SE, there is no headphone jack.

The first iPhone SE was a hit with many customers who loved its unique combination of small size, high-end performance and affordable price; the new second-generation iPhone SE builds on that great idea and improves on it in every way — including our best-ever single-camera system for great photos and videos — while still being very affordable. iPhone SE features the industry-leading performance of A13 Bionic that enables great battery life, takes stunning Portrait mode and Smart HDR photos, shoots amazing videos with stereo audio, is great for games and super fast web surfing, and is built with the same industry-leading security features our customers expect. We can't wait to get iPhone SE into customers' hands.

The new iPhone SE comes with a 5W power adapter, Lightning to USB cable, and EarPods with a Lightning connector in the box.

Apple today announced that its new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is now available to order on Apple.com and begins arriving to customers next week. Apple previously said the Magic Keyboard would be available in May, so this news comes as a surprise.

This is the accessory that Apple previously revealed last month, alongside the launch of the new 2020 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. The Magic Keyboard attaches to the iPad Pro magnetically, providing a "floating" cantilevered design for smooth adjustments of the viewing angle up to 130 degrees.

The keyboard itself is full-sized with backlit keys and a scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm travel. There's also a trackpad, which works with iPadOS 13.4 and its new feature that supports both trackpads and mice.

In terms of charging, the Magic Keyboard supports pass through USB-C charging, and when the Magic Keyboard is closed, the iPad Pro microphones are disconnected, preventing any audio data from being compromised.

Although it's being sold alongside the 2020 iPad Pro, the new Magic Keyboard is compatible with the previous-generation 2018 iPad Pro models as well.

You can order the Magic Keyboard for the 11-inch iPad Pro for $299, and for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro for $349 on Apple.com. The accessory has layouts for over 30 languages, and it's available to order today.

Apple's widely rumored successor to the iPhone SE will be announced at 8 a.m. Pacific Time aka 11 a.m. Eastern Time today, according to Jon Prosser of the YouTube channel Front Page Tech. This would line up with a tweet from Prosser a few weeks ago that claimed the device would be announced on April 15.

Prosser adds that the device will be called the "iPhone SE" and start at $399 in the United States. The new iPhone SE is expected to be an upgraded version of the iPhone 8, with a 4.7-inch display and a Touch ID home button, but with a faster A13 chip and an increased 3GB of RAM. It is said to come in white, black, or red with up to 256GB of storage.

This would be the same device that has commonly been referred to as the "iPhone 9" in rumors.

A court in Florida has dismissed a consumer lawsuit alleging that Apple intentionally "broke" FaceTime on older iPhones as a cost-saving measure (via Bloomberg Law).

In 2017, a similar class-action lawsuit was brought against Apple in California that claimed Apple broke ‌FaceTime‌ in iOS 6 to force users to upgrade to iOS 7. According to the lawsuit, Apple forced users to upgrade so it could avoid payments on a data deal with Akamai.

Apple agreed in February to settle the lawsuit in California, but the federal court in the Florida case ruled on Tuesday that the claims against Apple did not meet timeliness requirements. According to U.S. District Court Judge Raag Singhal, the complainants had several chances to file suit against Apple, but didn't lodge their complaint until August 2019.

Apple used two connection methods when it launched ‌FaceTime‌ in 2010: a peer-to-peer method that created a direct connection between two iPhones, and a relay method that used data servers from content delivery network company Akamai Technologies.

Apple's peer-to-peer ‌FaceTime‌ technology was found to infringe on VirnetX's patents in 2012, however, so the company began to shift toward the relay method, which used Akamai's servers. Within a year, Apple was paying $50 million in fees to Akamai, according to testimony from the VirnetX trial.

Apple eventually solved the problem by creating new peer-to-peer technology that would debut in iOS 7. The class-action lawsuits, however, alleged that Apple created a fake bug that caused a digital certificate to prematurely expire on April 16, 2014, breaking ‌FaceTime‌ on iOS 6.

The lawsuits claimed that breaking ‌FaceTime‌ in iOS 6 allowed Apple to save money because it would no longer need to support users who did not upgrade to iOS 7.

NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, is launching for free to some Comcast customers tomorrow, reports Reuters.

The service, which has been in the works for quite some time, will see a wide launch in July 2020 with upwards of 7,500 hours of programming that includes NBC shows and Universal movies, but it is launching early for some Comcast customers.

Peacock will feature a library of existing TV shows and movies like "30 Rock" and "Jurassic Park," along with a limited slate of original TV shows. Peacock is also set to include live sports access, curated shorts, breaking news coverage, and more. Providing access to live sports and live news will allow NBC to differentiate the Peacock service from Disney+, Netflix, and Apple TV+.

People who subscribe to Comcast's Xfinity X1 or Flex TV services will be able to access Peacock Premium for free starting Wednesday. The Premium package will include more than 15,000 hours of content.

Peacock Premium will launch for everyone on July 15 and it will cost $5 per month. A free version will also be available in July, but it won't have quite as much content, and there will be an ad-free tier as well that's priced at $10 per month.